GC's Parker Rhodes strikes out 15 in win; Pendleton Heights holds on to beat Mt. Vernon

NEW PALESTINE --- Greenfield-Central pitcher Parker Rhodes made a leap in production from his sophomore to junior year by trusting his stuff in the zone and believing in his defense to make plays behind him.

Having faith in your defense is great, but during Thursday's Sectional opener against Anderson, Rhodes made sure his defenders wouldn't be too busy.

The Xavier commit recorded 15 strikeouts over five innings, including a four-strikeout third and eight consecutive Ks from the third to the fifth. Rhodes' dominance allowed the Cougars to overcome a two-run deficit and a 10-run fifth ended the game, giving Greenfield-Central a 12-2 win over the Indians.

"To be honest, everything was working," Rhodes said. "My usual warm up routine, everything wasn't feeling the best but once I got on the mound, everything just clicked, and it felt really nice."

Rhodes struggled with command early. He hit a batter in the first and allowed a hard single to the next batter. After a lead-off single and a walk in the third, the Indians scored two runs on two wild pitches. From that point on, however, Rhodes was nearly unhittable retiring the next 10 batters in a row.

Rhodes' final line of two hits, one walk, one hit by pitch and 15 strikeouts is impressive, but Greenfield-Central coach Mitch Gibson knows his ace can be even sharper on the mound. Gibson said Anderson did a good job working counts by laying off breaking pitches and sitting on fastballs. He added that Rhodes' stuff was as electric as he's ever seen it, but Rhodes still has to work on getting ahead of hitters early.

"He was probably happy, but he wasn't satisfied," Gibson said of Rhodes. "He had a couple guys barrel up a couple baseballs and the only reason they did is because he didn't get up early in the count. 2-0, 3-1 are not counts that help us execute our plus pitches --- slider, two-seam and changeup.

"We've got to locate the fastball or the slider for a strike early in counts to give yourself a chance at the end of the lineup. But other than that, dude,15 strikeouts in five innings. ... He was outstanding. You can't ask for anything better than that."

The Cougars broke open the game in the bottom of the fifth. Fifteen batters came to the plate. Zander Cobb, Brady Johnson, Dylan Luther and Owen Zumbolo all hit RBI singles. Greenfield-Central scored two runs on wild pitches and one on a bases-loaded hit by pitch. Zumbolo's second RBI-single of the inning ended the game, putting GC up 10.

Greenfield-Central advances to face Pendleton Heights Saturday at 1 p.m.

Pendleton Heights holds off late rally, defeats Mt. Vernon

No player had a tougher job than Pendleton Heights reliever Jacob Garner during Thursday's sectional opener against Mt. Vernon.

Garner entered with the go-ahead run at the plate in the sixth inning and got out of the jam thanks to a tough off-balanced throw from third baseman Jackson Grile. Two walks put Garner and the Arabians back in a pickle in the seventh, but Garner closed the door, giving Pendleton Heights a 4-3 win over rival Mt. Vernon.

"I was just trying to do what's best for me," Garner said. "I locked in, blocked out the crowd and all the noise as much as I can. ... I just kept taking deep breaths. I trust my guys, and I just tried to get it in the zone as much as I could."

Both teams made several high-level defensive plays, giving their pitchers confidence to fill up the zone with strikes. Second baseman Ty Frakes flashed the leather, corralling a deflected ball and unleashing a nifty flip to shortstop Jordan Williamson for an out in the second inning. Mt. Vernon answered Frakes' web gem with a triple play in the third. The defensive highlights helped keep up-and-down performances from their respective pitchers from getting out of hand.

Pendleton struck first on Clint Miller hit a two-run home run to left field off ace Cam Sullivan. Colton Frank added an RBI infield single, and Colin Axel-Adam's RBI single proved to be the winner. Mt. Vernon scored both its runs in the first. D.J. Schuemann and Mason Meyer both plated runs with sacrifice flies. After the shaky start, Pendleton Heights starter Brayden Stevenson regrouped. The Ball State commit did not allow a hit over the final 4⅓ innings, striking out seven and walking seven.

Sullivan also improved as the game went on. The Notre Dame commit recorded seven of his 11 strikeouts after the four-run second. The hard-throwing righty allowed three earned runs and six hits over seven innings.

The Arabians drew from their experience against Sullivan during the regular season to pull out the postseason win. Sullivan struck out 12 and did not allow an earned run when the teams played in late April. Miller said extra time in the batting cage working on timing up velocity helped them prepare to face Sullivan and his 90-plus MPH fastball.

"This was my third time facing (Sullivan) and I've been overpowered by the fastball multiple times," Miller said. "I was just like, 'I'm going to sit fastball and nothing else.' He threw a first-pitch changeup and went back to picking off (the base runner). It gave me a lot of time to calm myself down and control my nerves.

"Then I got a high fastball, turned on it and the next thing I know it's gone."

Pendleton Heights will face Greenfield-Central Saturday at 11 a.m.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA Baseball: Greenfield-Central, Pendleton Heights get Sectional Ws